[Largeformat] Re: Photo 101 - Class 25 - Incident meters

[tigershark_001@hotmail.com]

--- In Largeformat@egroups.com, Clive Warren <cocam@c...> wrote:
> 
> If you're looking for a spot meter then go for the Pentax Spot MkV
- 
> an excellent and sturdy meter which takes the guesswork out of 
> incident metering when you are several thousand feet up and
shooting 
> with a long focal length :-)
> 
> The Pentax meters are a lot cheaper used than you might expect.  
Have 
> a trawl through EBay or your local camera stores.
> -- 

I am still puzzled about the real effectiveness on measuring 
reflective light several thousand feet away.  We all know the Zone 
system calls for accurate metering of both shadow and highlight
areas, 
but far away objects are still way to far for 1 degree meters to be 
isolated.
 
Substitute metering -- mesasuring similar but closer-by objects -- 
would be possible sometimes. Experience tells me that that an
incident 
metering, combined with known reflectivity of objects, could yield a 
great exposure.  I have trained my eyes a great deal to see as the 
film sees and the squinting technique is used frequently.

I am not hammering on the use of 1 degree spot meters, they have
their 
good and valid use, but heck, I wonder if by taking an incident 
reading and correct for the reflectivity factor of the to be zoned 
object, the exposure and processs normalization would be all that
much 
different.

Tigershark